


it's you who deserves it all

by holtzmannedbaby



Category: Dead To Me (TV)
Genre: F/F, and jen gives them to her, happy valentine's day gays!, jen cooks for judy, jen's a big softy, judy deserves nice things, this is probably the softest thing i've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29339241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holtzmannedbaby/pseuds/holtzmannedbaby
Summary: happy early valentine's day, guys!this is a little rushed but aren't all my fics?i hate this with every fibre of my being but i hope you all enjoy
Relationships: Judy Hale & Jen Harding, Judy Hale/Jen Harding
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	it's you who deserves it all

**Author's Note:**

> happy early valentine's day, guys!
> 
> this is a little rushed but aren't all my fics?
> 
> i hate this with every fibre of my being but i hope you all enjoy

At the beginning of February, Jen noticed that Judy wasn’t her usual self.

At first, she thought that maybe Judy wasn’t feeling well and that was why she had skipped their usual glass of wine a few evenings in a row and the reason why she’d been sleeping more.

But then Jen saw her coming out of the bathroom one morning with tear stained cheeks and puffy red eyes.

Eyes that no longer held their usual sparkle. Instead, appearing dull and lifeless.

So Jen pulled her aside that evening, a deep concern for her best friend brewing inside.

“Hey, what’s going on Jude?” Jen spoke quietly, her left hand rubbing up and down Judy’s arm.

“Oh it’s nothing, I’m fine.” Judy waved her hand dismissively and smiled but of course, Jen knows her well enough to see that it was forced.

“Don’t lie to me, Jude. Please. Just tell me what’s wrong?”

And with that Judy had broken down, sobs ripping through her body as she told Jen.

“It’s just, the 14th will be four years since my third miscarriage. And Steve, he –” She paused to catch her breath, “he never treated me the same after that. He became withdrawn and emotionally abusive towards me. And I waited. I waited for him to change. For him to go back to the Steve I knew before but –”

Judy broke into a fresh round of sobs, almost collapsing. Jen grabbed her and pulled her tight into her chest, cradling Judy. Stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. Jen’s own silent tears falling as she whispered, “shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Jude. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

*

And since that day, Jen has been spending all her spare time working on how to give Judy a Valentine’s Day that she’ll remember for the better. Late nights are consumed with looking up vegan dinner recipes and early mornings find her searching for local florists and family owned crystal boutiques.

She’ll never be able to heal the pain of Judy losing a child but she’ll sure as hell try and mend her broken heart that was shattered by Steve.

-

The day before Valentine’s, Jen heads to a bunch of stores to buy everything she needs.

At the grocery store, she picks up a cheesy card that says ‘Happy Valentine’s Day to my partner in wine.’ (oh so suiting) as well as a rose and a box of Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies (the little ones, of course.) She also grabs two bottles of pinot noir and all the ingredients needed for the dishes she will be attempting to make.

Fast forward an hour and Jen stops by the family run crystal boutique on the seafront to buy Judy some new – as Jen puts it – ‘woo woo shit.’

She emerges from the store with a pale blue, ceramic Buddha which she thinks will go perfect in their bedroom (yes, they share Jen’s room now), a tiny red jasper crystal in the shape of a heart, a pack of clear quartz incense sticks, 2 red taper candles and finally, a pair of rose quartz bracelets, one for Judy and one for herself.

And then finally, on the way home, Jen heads to florist to collect the flowers she’d ordered for Judy a few days prior. 12 red roses paired with half a dozen yellow tulips because, from the bottom of her heart, _fuck_ the cheap grocery store flowers that’ll die within a day or two.

Judy deserves the world and Jen is going to do her best to give it to her.

-

Valentine’s Day arrives and as much as Jen loves having Judy around, she’s itching for her to leave for work so she can begin preparing everything for the day. The whole process is going to take around 4 hours (that’s without any mishaps) and Judy is on a 5 hour shift so Jen really needs her to get a move on.

An agonising 45 minutes later and Judy is grabbing her bag and keys and heading for the front door, the usual spring in her step gone.

Jen calls out from the kitchen before she leaves, “Jude, you’re home tonight right?”

Jen already knows she will be but she needs Judy to know that there’s something to look forward to tonight.

“Uh yeah.” Judy’s voice is filled with pain and it breaks Jen’s heart.

“Okay, well it’s just us for dinner. The boys are at Lorna’s for the night, she’s picking them up from school. I’ll see you later, alright? I love you.”

“Okay, bye. Love you too.”

As soon as Jen hears the front door close and Judy’s car start up, she throws on one of Judy’s floral aprons and begins the adventure of cooking a three course meal to the best of her abilities. She hopes to make a homemade tomato soup for starters, vegan risotto with asparagus and mushrooms for main and then carrot cake for dessert because it’s Judy’s favourite and Jen is on a mission to do _anything_ to see Judy’s happiness return. Even if it’s just for a moment.

She decides to start with the carrot cake seeing as it can be placed in the fridge once finished. Over an hour later, the cake is set aside and there’s flour and icing sugar covering almost every surface of the kitchen, including Jen’s face and hair but she has no time to clean up yet because she’s on a tight schedule and moving straight on to the tomato soup.

It seems pretty simple at first, throwing a bunch of vegetables, oil and vegetable stock into a pan and letting it simmer but then she ends up spending 15 minutes trying to find the fucking blender to smooth the whole mixture out.

Almost two hours later the soup is finally done and left to cool down, ready to be reheated later.

Jen checks her watch and sees she has just under two hours left until Judy’s home. The risotto should only take around 40 minutes and is the least messy so she decides to take a quick shower and get dressed.

She hops in the shower, washing the mess from her hands, face and hair away. She spirals a little, wondering if Judy would think that it’s weird or that she’ll hate Jen’s food but she snaps herself out of it. Telling herself that in Judy’s eyes, nothing is weird and, even if she was repulsed by Jen’s cooking, she wouldn’t let on because she’s just _too_ nice.

Jen steps out of the shower and into her robe, drying herself off as she makes her way into her bedroom to grab her already chosen outfit from the closet. She lays the clothes on her bed, navy blue jeans, a white blouse and her burgundy blazer. Ready and waiting as she moves on to her hair and makeup.

She grabs the hairdryer from the bottom drawer of her dresser and begins drying her hair, her natural waves falling perfectly into place with barely any styling. She applies some mascara to her lashes and a deep red lipstick to her lips, not wanting to look too fancy but enough to show Judy that she’s made an effort especially for her.

Jen throws on her outfit and pairs it with her signature black boots. She checks the time,

“Fuck!” She yells into the empty house. She must have taken longer in the shower than she thought because Judy is due home in around 30 minutes and she hasn’t even set the table or started cooking the main meal.

She rushes down the stairs, grabbing the card (still unwritten), cookies and the giftbag filled with the stuff she’d bought from the crystal store from the closet on her way. She dumps it all on the kitchen counter, taking the card and quickly writing it out.

_‘ Dear Judy,_

_Happy Valentine’s Day._

_I love you with my whole heart. I couldn’t ask for a better person to spend my days with. I just hope you know how special you are to me. You’re my best friend, forever until the end._

_All my love,_

_Jen’_

Once that’s done Jen preps the ingredients for the risotto and throws them into a pan on a low heat, quickly taking the stuff from the counter and moving to set the table. She positions the plates and cutlery so they’re sat opposite each other and places a single red rose in a glass in the centre of the table with the two tapered candles on either side. The gifts and card for Judy are placed at the end of the table as well as the bouquet.

She hears the front door click just as she lights the candles and dims the lights, dropping the lighter somewhere and literally running to the door to greet Judy.

“Hi.” She smiles at Judy who has a puzzled look on her face, probably wondering why Jen is dressed up with all the lights in the house turned off.

“Jen, hi. What’s going on?” Judy cocks her head to the side.

“Come with me.” Jen extends her hand and Judy hesitantly drops her jacket and bag on the floor before taking it.

Jen leads her to the dining room and stops in the doorway. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, preparing for the worst before turning to look at Judy.

And when she does, Judy’s mouth is opening and closing but nothing is coming out and tears are threatening to spill from her eyes so Jen speaks instead.

“You deserve a nice day so I thought I’d try and give you one. Happy Valentine’s, Jude.”

“Oh, Jen.” Judy sniffles, wrapping her arms around Jen’s neck and pulling her into a crushing hug, “you didn’t have to do this but thank you, thank you _so_ much.”

Jen pulls back from the hug and wipes the tears from Judy’s eyes, “come on, lets eat. I’m starving.”

The soup and risotto go down smoothly. They eat in almost silence except when Judy more often than not, hums in delight and tells Jen how delicious the food is after pretty much every mouthful.

And not to toot her own horn but Jen? She’s pretty impressed with the turnout.

Dessert on the other hand finds Jen having to cross her legs under the table because Judy is full on _moaning_ with every bite she takes and even using her finger to swipe the crumbs from the plate.

Jen shakes the filthy thoughts entering her mind and chokes down the rest of her cake.

After dinner they move to the kitchen, sitting at the island and sipping on their glasses of wine.

“I can’t believe you never told me you could cook so well!” Judy doesn’t sound surprised, more amazed really.

“Yeah well, I learned from the best. I guess watching you make dinner most nights really paid off.” Jen shrugs.

“Aww you watch me cook.” Judy raises her eyebrow, a mischievous grin plastered across her face.

Jen feels her own face heat up and quickly moves out of the room, returning a few seconds later with the card and gift bag for Judy.

“Here, you still need to open these.” Jen places them on the counter.

Judy opens the card first, once again crying when she reads the message inside and Jen rolls her eyes, nudging Judy and telling her she’s too soft.

Judy dips her hand into the bag and when she pulls the buddha out of the tissue paper her eyes widen and she gasps, “oh my god, Jen! He’d look perfect in-”

“Our bedroom, I know.” Jen finishes Judy’s sentence and she swears she’s never seen a smile brighter.

Judy opens everything else, gasping and appreciating every little detail of each present as she sets them down gently on the marbled surface in front of her.

“I can’t believe you did all this for me. And the bracelets! Are you actually going to wear yours?” Judy questions, slipping hers onto her left wrist and admiring it.

“Of course, Jude.” Jen raises her arm and rolls up her sleeve, showing Judy the pink stones decorating her own wrist.

“Oh my god, I fucking _love_ you.”

Jen’s heart flutters at the words, “I fucking love you too.”

The evening is passing by too fast and Jen never wants it to end. She pulls her phone from her back pocket and hooks it up to the Bluetooth speaker, shuffling the romantic playlist that she’d so painstakingly created the night before.

‘I only have eyes for you’ flows out of the speakers as Jen stands, “care for a dance?”

Judy smiles and gets up from her seat, arms snaking around Jen’s waist as Jen’s lock around her neck. It’s more of a sway than a dance but it’s beautiful. Jen can feel Judy relaxing into her body with every movement so she pulls her a little closer and rests her cheek on top of Judy’s head.

“This is nice.” She whispers as Judy lifts her head.

“It is.” Judy smiles, her honey eyes locked on Jen’s ocean greens.

Jen gently brushes a loose strand of hair behind Judy’s ear and leaves her hand on her face, thumb caressing her cheek delicately. The other hand makes home on Judy’s waist and the slightest hitch in Judy’s breath is barely noticeable over the music but Jen definitely doesn’t miss the way she slowly licks her lips and eyes Jen’s own.

Jen’s thumb slowly trails over her bottom lip and Judy leans her head forward, placing a kiss to the skin.

Jen leans her face closer to Judy’s, her nose brushing against Judy’s as she whispers, “can I?”

Judy nods without a thought and it’s almost desperate the way she says it, “please.”

So Jen leans all the way in, gently pressing her lips against Judy’s. Once. Twice. Three times. Both of them humming in contentment.

She pulls back a little and takes in the look on Judy’s face. She’s smiling and her eyes have that familiar shine to them again but there’s something else there too. Something warm and inviting. Something that says _‘I want this. Us. Everything that involves you and me because I’m in love with you and I always have been since the day we met.’_.

Jen just _knows_ it.

And then Judy’s leaning in again, kissing her with a little more pressure than Jen had used and nothing has ever felt so right in Jen’s life. She decides she could do this for hours, days, _years_ with Judy and something deep inside her knows that she will. Knows that they could make this their normal now because she can see, Judy wants this too.

Jen pulls back slightly breathless, smiling as she rests her forehead against Judy’s, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Judes.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Jen.”


End file.
